


Together Now

by liionne



Category: The Secret Life of Bees
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-30
Updated: 2013-05-30
Packaged: 2017-12-13 11:21:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/823712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liionne/pseuds/liionne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She ran to him, and wrapped her arms around his waist. He stooped slightly to rest his head on hers. She let go of a small sob, and he held her tighter. She wanted to tell him not to leave. She wanted to tell him to wait, to wait until she could go with him. She wanted to. But she didn't; she knew that would be selfish.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Together Now

She was in 10th grade when he was about to leave for college. That summer was like a great farewell; they spent almost every day together - partly because Zach wanted to, and partly because he wanted to earn some money to tide himself over when he got to Chicago, to the college he would be attending with the other white students. He had saved the summer before for the fare to get there, and now it was just a matter of getting money to keep himself going until he could find another job.

Lily didn't want him to go. He said he'd be back each summer, but what if he didn't? He said he'd write, all the time, but what if he forgot? She spent every waking moment when he was at the house with him, and nobody, not one single person, complained. 

On the last day before he had to leave, the heat was blistering. The bees had been seen to, watered and checked on at regular intervals throughout the day. And now it was time for Zach to leave.

He stood in the front yard beside the truck, letting everyone make their farewells as they should. June came over with Neil to see him off, but her farewell came only after August's. She placed her hands on either side of his face, and kissed his forehead with motherly tenderness. "Show 'em what you got, Zach." She murmured quietly.

He nodded, and pressed his lips into a thin line. August smiled, patted his cheek tenderly, and took a few steps back to stand next to Neil, clasping her hands in her lap. June was next, and she stepped forward swiftly to give him a kiss on the cheek. "You be good now, y'hear?" she said softly. He nodded again, devoid of words. June gave a gentle smile and stood next to Neil, who placed an arm around her shoulders. He nodded to Zach wordlessly.

Rosaleen closed the gap next, clasping both of hands together and smiling. "You're gonna be brilliant." She told him. "You show 'em we aint any different. You show 'em."

Zach nodded, once again without words. He had things to say - words cluttered his mind, clouded it. So many words, and yet he said nothing.

Finally, it was Lily's turn. She paused before stepping forward. Her chin quivered. And then she ran to him, and wrapped her arms around his waist. He stooped slightly to rest his head on hers. She let go of a small sob, and he held her tighter. She wanted to tell him not to leave. She wanted to tell him to wait, to wait until she could go with him. She wanted to. But she didn't; she knew that would be selfish.

"You still got those dog tags?" Zach asked.

Lily nodded wordlessly.

"Good." He said. "I'll be coming back for them, Lily. I'll be coming back for you."

Again she nodded. It was her turn to have so many words and nothing to say.

Before he turned to leave, Zach kissed her, he kissed her so hard Lily thought she might fall backwards, but he was there to hold her up. And then he was gone, the truck driving off down the road, round the corner before Lily could run to him and tell him that she loved him. That she really loved him. And she would never love anyone else.

~~~~~

It was Lily's turn to go to College two years later, and she had almost the same send off. She was only going to a college in Virginia, so she promised to come back for summer, but, just as Zach never had, she didn't either. She found friends at college, a job and a place to live happily. She was happy away from the hot pink house, at least for a little while.

Zach was back two summers before she was, just as he had left two summers before she did. He got a job with Clayton, an understudy of sorts, but he would still come to August's house to visit the two ladies who lived there. He hoped that Lily would come home. He hoped every day. Every summer. And then, three summers after he got back, Lily returned.

She graduated on the Friday, and invited Rosaleen, June and August to come and see her. People stared at the white girl being pulled into a black woman's arms, but no one acted out. No one spoke out, either. They thought it strange, but not disgusting, and they carried on. They brought her straight home after that, and when she caught sight of her pepto-bismol home, she couldn't contain her grin.

"When's Zach gonna back?" Was the first sentence she uttered when back in the house.

August smiled. "A few days. He's got work to do."

"He's a big fancy lawyer now." Rosaleen nodded.

Lily allowed herself a small smile. And then she lugged her bag upstairs.

~~~~~

"Come on little guy," Lily murmured. She was crouched on her hands and knees, cracker crumbs and marshmallow bits in one hand. The cockroach was already halfway across the floor, a lot closer than it had been. She was still laying out the rest of the trail to lead it outside. 

"Lily," Rosaleen called from the porch. "You might want'ta come out here."

Lily, frowning, quickly finished her trail to the front door and onto the porch. Then she brushed her hands together outside, and looked to Rosaleen.

"What?" She asked.

Rosaleen spat out dark liquid into her snuff jar. "Look." she said, nodding her head outwards.

Lily turned to look, and saw a car pulling up into the drive. It looked fairly new; Lily didn't recognise it. She watched it pull in with a frown, her hands set on her hips. She waited for it's owner to get out.

When Zach closd the car door, Lily first and foremost noticed how he hadn't changed a bit. And then she noticed how good he looked. How much she had missed him. Ache filled the space around her heart, and she could hear her blood pulsing in her ears. 

Zach locked the car before taking a proper look at the porch. When he did, he stopped.

"Lily?" He called, his voice just loud enough to be heard over the distance that separated them.

"Zach!" She grinned. She crossed the space between them in seconds, throwing herself off of the porch and sprinting towards him. Zach had only a few seconds to note the changes in her; her hair was a shade darker, her height a few inches taller, and he felt almost embarrassed to note her chest slightly fuller. He had left her at 16, still small and girlish and growing, and here she was at 23, running into his arms a woman. While he had remained the same, she had changed entirely.

But, he noted, she still smelled the same.

She hugged him, held him closer to her for what seemed like an age, but it still wasn't long enough. She was grinning, and tears were pricking her eyes. It was a long time since she'd seen him.

"I've got them, Zach," She said, when she couldn't hold it any longer. She parted them only slightly, enough to pull the dog tags out of her shirt and show them to him. "The tags, I kept them. I've got them." She smiled.

She hadn't taken them off. Not for one day. She treated them as if they were holy, as holy as the Black Madonna statue she had taken off to college with her. People at first questioned them, but they became so infamous that, at one point, people just stopped asking.

Zach gave a laugh. A happy laugh, a throaty, genuine laugh. He kissed her forehead, and then her nose, and then it was her who was kissing him, pushing her lips to his and parting them, allowing him the taste of her sweet breath.

"You said we couldn't be together just then," Lily said quietly. She was aware that now both August and Rosaleen were watching them from the porch. "You said when you came back. Are things different now? Can we?"

Zach nodded. He nodded till he thought he thought his head might just fall off. "Things are different now," He assured her. "We can be together now. Now." He murmured in her ear.

And then, without needing further instruction, Lily pressed her lips to his once more.


End file.
